[Genie]

I've fed Miss Shiloh Beneful dry dog food for 2 or 3 years now, and she seems to like it fairly well. I mean considering it's not people food! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif But with all the problems with wheat and rice gluten I became concerned because Beneful has corn gluten, and I don't know if that could be a problem too. So a couple of weeks ago I started gradually switching her to Goodlife Recipe, made by the Mars Company. She likes it even more than Beneful, at least she "cleans her plate" more often. And it has good ingredients, I think. It's around the same price as Beneful, so it's something I can afford. But I don't think it has as much fiber as Beneful. She's not pooping as often and her stools aren't as firm. Sorry to be gross. So I'm thinking of gradually switching her back to Beneful. Should I begin to switch her back this soon, or wait a couple of more weeks? I don't want to upset her tummy --that's why I've been doing it gradually. Also, I would hate to switch back and then have a problem develop with corn gluten! What do y'all think?

 

[ricksconnected]

its my understanding from the latest developments that the glutin is not the issue with the bad food. it was the flour. good solid poo is a must.
bernie has a good solid fiber in his dog food.
im not a food expert by no means, but ive learned a great deal over the last 3 months.
just check your labels on the foods. if you dont know exactly what something is, use your computer and find out. the less filler and preservs the better. look for food using whole foods.
maybe we should do a list/post on dog food ingredients on here. not a post to reply too, but like a chart that we can come to to see what things are. that would help a lot of us, and the new folks as well i would think.

 

[Murphys Dad]

I don't know what to tell you Genie. I get just as confused when I start thinking about the food issues. I would say if you find a food Shiloh likes stick with it. Give the Good Life stuff a little more time. She may just need more time for her body to adjust. It's so confusing to think about, at least for me it is. Maybe you can call your vet to see if they have any ideas? Mine felt comfortable with Jersey getting dry Innova. He did warn to just stay away from all canned stuff for now though.

As for what the ingredients mean, Innova has an ingredients wizard on their web site. It tells you exactly what each ingredient is, not only in their products, but anything. I posted on it a few weeks ago, but here's the link again.

Ingredients Wizard

 

[Murphys Dad]

I don't have any really sage advice, but I will tell you that I'd started feeding Misty Goodlife thinking that would be good since she's a senior. It very definitely changed her stool....looser, very dark. This was at the time we were running the tests on her, and she started not eating very well. Long story short, I switched her back to her old food and everything's hunky dory. Of course, the gravy helps! :eyes:

 

[ricksconnected]

jen

thank you so much for putting that back up. im still trying to find the website where you can talley up points to see where your dog food stands in the ranks. it also lets you pick your food and compaire it to others. i posted it once before, but have since lost it. lol

 

[missbarksalot]

Here's a link to a website with the point system to grade your dogs food.

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=grading_kibble

 

[ricksconnected]

missbarks

this is an ok site but not the one im looking for.
the one im looking for gives you side by side food compaire with any 2 dog foods you chose too.
i guess this site will work, but its nothing like the side i once posted. im just trying to avoid from going back over all my posts and looking for it. i guess im gonna have to.

 

[jassy]

Rick, Is it the one at www.naturapet.com?It doesn't let you compare any two foods but you can compare a natura food with a competitor food.

 

[ricksconnected]

no thats not it either. dang i wish i could find that sight again. there must have been 100 different foods on there.

 

[Genie]

Hey Rick, I just did a search, in Beagle World, and this is what I found.

http://www.abeagleworld.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=006187#000000

 

[Tammy]

I am Beneful feeder. The Twins like it and it has not caused any problems so far.

 

[BeagleBabe]

She hasn't been sneaking cat food has she? I notice when Abby sneaks cat food her poop gets all weird.

 

[ricksconnected]

genie

lol im such an idiot. i clicked on your link, searched it, and left my reply for here, there!
:doh:
ok theyve changed this site completely. not the way it use to be. they dont mention wellness at all from what i just saw.
plus the list of dog foods has really declined a great deal. this is a shame, there was a lot of lost info on this site about all kinds of dog foods.

 

[Genie]

Well!! I did a search and comparison of ingredients and guaranteed analysis of Beneful and Goodlife Recipe. The ingredients are really more similar than I first thought, just listed in different orders. But the analysis really explains a lot: Beneful is 9 % fiber; Goodlife is 4 %! Beneful has 7 % crude fat; Goodlife has 10 %!! So with less fiber and higher fat in Goodlife, no wonder Shiloh's having fewer and softer poops!! And the higher fat content probably explains why Shiloh seems to prefer Goodlife--it's probably like people food: the more fatty it is, the better it tastes!! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif
Anyway, mystery solved, I think. Thanks for all the input. I guess I'll start re-introducing Beneful at mealtime.

 

[ricksconnected]

aside from the landmines in the yard, high fiber foods are great for dogs, and people too.